Porous coated pile fabric



Feb. 9, 1937.

G. S. HIERS,`

PoRoUs COATED PILE FABRIC Filed Oct. 16, 1935 Fig. 1

Impr@ Fig.

Inl/enfer :Ma/DJ Hm ltarney.

Patented Feb. 9, 1937 UNITED STATES 2,010,335 portons conm PILE FABRICGlen S. Hiers,`Bala-Cyl`1wyd, Pa., assignor to Collins & AikmanCorporation, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Delaware ApplicationOctober 16, 1935, Serial No. 45,357

9 Claims. V(0l. 28-1) My invention consists of an improved and novelpile fabric in which the loops of the pile are firmly united to abacking fabric by an insoluble solidifled pliable composition which isso positioned and proportioned in the fabric that the original porosityor Ventilating quality of the fabric before the application of suchcomposition is largely lre- More particularly, my invention resides inan use, in which the pile Vs are looped `in weaving around single weftsof a backing fabric which is composed of backing warps and weftsinterwoven to form a single plane ground for the pile loops. 1'5 Acementitious binder material is incorporated, substantially locally, inthe backing fabric threads and that portion of the tuft which lies inthesame plane. A' less quantityof binderinaterial to hold the tuftssecurely in place is requlredthan in present commercial fabrics. 20 Itis weiiknown that this type or pile weave eects greater coverage for a.given quantity of the pile yarn, which may be of wool or other animalfiber such as mohair or vegetable fibers such as cotton or combinationyarns containing any 25 two or more of these, than the w or fast pileloop and the objectionable grinning through of the knees of the w tuftsis also avoided. As'the V-pile tufts are looped about a single weftthread,

35 Heretofore, such-auxiliary means have been apy plied in various ways,for example, as disclosed by the Drobile v'latent No. 1,788,989 issuedJanuary 13, 1931. 'Ihis patent, along with any prior -art of which I amaware, deals with a methodV of man- 40 ufacture of or a fabric in whichanchorage of the pile tufts and reenforcement of the backing islobtainedby means of a substantially continuous film which tends to make thefinished fabric moistureproof and hence, deficient in porosity for manypurposes. It is the purpose of this invention to set forth a loose pilefabric in which the binder material is not continuous but follows and islargely confined within and on the threads and at their points ofinterlacing rather than in the inter- 'stices between them so as topreserve the natural porosity ofthe fabric and yet firmly anchor thetufts in their positions. It has been found that the anchorage of thetufts, relative to the weight 55 of a binder material such as onecontaining rubimproved V-pile fabric, suitablefor upholstery ber can-begreatly improved and hence, a porous or ventilated coated V-pile fabriccan readily be produced. 'I'he amount of binder material used isdependent on the character of the woven web, that is, looseness' oftheWeave, the -materials v5 used, etc."

.Applicantv knows of no standard machine for reducing the anchorage ofthe pile tufts to accurate mathematical terms. The usual way ofdetermining whether V`cr not anchorage is comm mercially satisfactory isfor the inspector to rmly stretch the fabric "with his hands and then bystrongly rubbing the foreiinger over the face of the pile attempt towholly or partially dislodge the tufts through the back of the fabric. Acommercial fabric of this type may be dened as one in which it isimpossible or exceedingly dimcult to dislodge the tufts by the methodindicated.

In comparable textures of woven webs equal anchorage of the pile tuftsto that obtained in prior fabrics is obtained in the present inventionwith greater than 20% less rubber by weight. This is because the binderis confined to its most effective positions and became there is a greatincreasain the number of anchoring points. 25

Permeability to air or porosity is a very desirable characteristic inthis type of fabric in order that certain objectionable features of thefabric, when in use, may be overcome. In automobiles, for example, thereis a tendency to trap air within the cushion and to produce as a resultthereof an objectionable air cushioning in- `-dependent of that derivedfrom the normal cushioning structure. The Ventilating property of thefabric also avoids the accumulation of heat within the fabric and hence,increases the riding comfort of the passenger'.`

It is an object of this invention thento provide a `pile fabric havingsecurely anchored pile Vs but which is quite porous or permeable to air.I

It is a-further object of this invention to provide a V-pile fabricwhich will not act as a trap for air which may gather on the back sideof it when the fabric is in use as on a seat cover lor automobileupholstering cushion.- A

A further object of this invention is to secure the warp pile tuftsfirmly in their original positions with a minimum amount of bindermateria'l and to so position said binding material 50 4 the pile tuftsin such a way that they may have 55 a cradle action when the fabric isdraped so that the softness of the face is largely retained afterimpregnation.

A further object of this invention is to provide aypiie fabric which hasbeen scoured, preferably locally, and .to which, before the moisture hasbeen lost by evaporation or otherwise, a binder material is incorporatedin the backing thereof. The binding material is so diffused through thescouredand wetted threads that a substantial portion of the individualfibers of the different threads making up the fabric is completelycovered and consequently the individual fibers act to anchor the piletufts in position. This results in a pile fabric having an even spacingof tufts and hence, a uniform coverage on the facev of the fabric.

Figure l is a diagrammatic bottom plan view of a fabric beforeimpregnation.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view of the fabric shown in Figure l andillustrates the localizing of the impregnating matter about a singlepile loop.

Figures 3and 4 are diagrammatic sectional side and end views of a singlepile loop and the impregnated backing threads of Figure 2.

Figures 5 and 6 are diagrammatic views of sim- `ilar fabrics showingvariations in the relative positions of the pile loops to the backingthreads.

Applicant makes no claim to the several structures per se, but only whenthey are impregnated as set forth. The fabrics are made up of backingwarps l, I and I; backing Wefts 2, 2' and 2"; and pile loops 3, 3 and3", respectively. Reference numeral 4 designates the anchoring materialdiffused throughout the length of the backing yarns and localized in thetufts so as to leave the interstices of the back substantially free ofanchoring material. This, as may be clearly seen, allows for a rockingaction of the pile loop about its supporting weft. It is to beunderstood of course that the fabric must be woven tightly enough toprovide good pile coverage on the face of the fabric.

The local scouring is accomplished by applying substances to the back ofthe woven web, which will remove the water-repellent oils, which arenormally present, from the threads and this,

- together with the moistureleft in the fabric as a result of thescouring, apparently causes the threads to have a greater ainity for thebinder material than do the interstices between the threads and hence,the interstices will not be closed unless an excessive amount of bindermaterial is applied. The woven web may of course in some cases` bewholly scoured, but local scouring is preferred as it tends todefinitely restrict the binder amnity properties of the finished fabrictothat portion which will actually take the binder material.

A suction or blower apparatus may be used to blow or4 draw off surpluswater, which may be left on the fabric as a 'result of the scouring.

This latter step regulates the amount of water in the fibers and removeswater fromV the interstices between the tufts and threads, so that whenthe binder material is applied, it permits the binder, due to increasedafllnity of the wetted bers and/ or the increased capillarity of thescoured and wet yarns, to thoroughly diffuse and position itself aroundand into the individual bers of the threads so that they may act toindividually anchor the pile tufts. The amount of local scouring,moisture content of the fabric, and the viscosity of the binder uid whenapplied are all contributing factors to the positioning of the bindermaterial in the manner set forth. /pplicant accordingly does not wish tolimit himself to any specific method for attaining his result but isclaiming and believes to be new, aV-pile fabric in which the pile Vs aresecurely anchored in position by a binding material, which diifusesthrough and which is largely conned within the thread of the wovenfabric. In this way, a securely anchored pile tuft is incorporated in aporousl or ventilated fabric by means of a lesser amount of bindermaterial than was previously possible. The fibers of the individualtufts become cemented together, as it were, and the outside bers thereofbecome cemented to the fibers of the backing threads. Thus; it is seen adifferent type of anchorage is obtained than when a continuous or skincoating is used. 'Ihis is well illustrated by dissolving out the textilematerial of a fabric with a continuous web of rubber binder and of afabric with the binder material located as herein described. pervioussheet of rubber is obtained, whereas in the latter, a decidedly imsy,perforated sheet and in some cases just a mass or ball of rubber havingno denite shape results. I

The cradle action referred to in the objects of invention results fromthe position and localizing of the binder material. By confining itlargely to the outline of the backing and by leaving the intersticesopen, a hinge action or fulcrum point is produced intermediate theextreme bottom of contain 35 or more separate and distinct fibers.-

It is known that in prior fabrics, only a small part of the thread areais in contact with the binder material. By so positioning the bindermaterial, in this mechanically more effective position, rather than inthe interstices of the fabric, both better anchorage and porosity of thefabric arel obtained. In the present invention, the pile tuftflbers areindividually set in the binder ma-` terial.

Fabrics of similar weaves and yarn count and commercial anchorage weretested on a textile In the former, an imporosity testing machine asdeveloped by the Bureau of Standards and the new fabric herein set forthshowed improved porosity in the face to back direction of from 95- to338 percent. and in the back to face direction of 55 to 110 per cent. Bythus confining the binder materm within the backing threads and the piletufts locally to 'the plane of the backing material, the bights of thepile tufts are left clean and project from the plane of the bindermaterial. The apparatus for applying the binder material may include awiping or scraping element for the pile bights. This tends to clean themof binding material, and hence, the back of the finished fabric willretain its textile character or feel and the flexibility of the web ispreserved. The finish of the fabric is accordingly improved and thedraping characteristics are very good. So far as appearances areconcerned, the fabric closely approaches a completely textile or threadfabric. The term coated is used. herein to dene an adhesive-bound fabricin which the binder material has been applied to anchor the tufts, andnot to define a continuous imperforate film of binder material aftersolidication.

ity

i prepared asindicated above. Organic solutions of rubber andnitrocellulose orpyroxylin may be used as equivalents. The substancesmay be defined generally as normally insoluble.

My improvements are applicable to the treatment Vof pile fabrics wovensingly or on the double plush principle and which may be woven withrelatively few picks of 'weft threads over which pile tufts are looped.Closely woven V-pile fabric having a total measured thread area equalto` 100% or more of "the fabric area, may not need any binder materialtoancho the tufts. Highly successful commercial V-pile fabrics of lessthan 100% fiber density of'the fabric area, kand with excellent coveragehave been made with the aid of binder material as set forth.

It is pointed out, however,` that because of the greater aii'inity ofthe fibers for the binding material in the fabric treated as indicatedherein than in previously woven webs, the porosity of more closely wovenfabricsl or fabrics in which thereis substantial compressionbetweencertain threads of the backing and/or the tufts,.due to crowding ofthethreads in the reed dents or the like, will be maintained afterapplication of the binder material and the natural flexibility of thefabric preserved. The fact that the binder is in the same plane as thebacking fabric tends to effectively preserve the flexibility of the web.

fThe fabrics may be decorated by cutting,singe ing, embossing or acidtreatment in any usual Way.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. An impregnatedr ventilatedflexible singleplane backing V-pile fabricwhich consists of interwovenwarp and weft backing threads, warp pile V tufts having theirtips freeof impregnating material looped around a single weft thread so that thetips of the pile bights project below the backing threads, said piletufts being firmly anchored in the backing fabric by a cementitiousbinding material, which is thoroughly diffused in and largely confinedwithin said threads and locally to and in said tufts at that portion ofthe tufts which are in the plane of the backing threads, whereby theinterstices between -the threads are not filled and the porosity aswellas the textile feel is preserved on bothfsides of the finished fabric. l

2. An impregnated ventilated exible singleplane backing V-pile fabricwhich consists of interwoven warp and weft backing threads, pile V tuftshaving their tips free of impregnating material looped around a singlebacking thread, said pile tufts being firmly anchored ln the backingfabric by a normally insoluble binder cornposition which is thoroughlydiffused in and largely confined withinv said threads and locally to andin said tufts at that portion of the tufts which is in the plane of thebacking threads soas ft provide a discontinuous layer .which .does notfill the`interstices between the threads, whereby the porosity as wellas the textile feel is largely preserved in both sides of the finishedfabric.

3. An impregnated ventilated flexible singleplane backing V-pile fabric.which consists of in'- terwoven warp and weft backing threads, warp pileV tufts having theirtipsfreel of impregnating material, looped around asingle weft thread and having the pile bights projecting from thebacking fabric, said pile tufts being anchored in position by adiscontinuous normally insoluble binder composition containing rubber,free of the interstices between the threads, and confined substantiallywithin the perimetersof the` backing threads and locally to and in saidtufts at that portion of the tuftsl which is in the plane of the backingthreads to allow a hinge action or rocking of the pile tufts and topreserve the softness and flexibility of the fabric.

4. An impregnated porous flexible single-plane backing -Vpi1e fabricwhich consists of interwoven secured warp and weft'backing threads",-

warp pile V tufts having their tips free of impregnating material loopedaround a single weft thread and having the pile bights' projecting vfrom the backing fabric, a normally insolublel pile b ights projectingfrom the backing fabric, a

normally insoluble binder composition conned substantially within theperimeters of the backing threads and thatportion of the tufts which isin the plane of the backing, said binder material f being in contactwith a majority of the individual fibers of both the backing threads andpiletufts and not filling the interstices between the threads.

6. An impregnated porous flexible loosely woven s single-plane backingpile fabric which consists of interwoven scoured warp and weft backingthreads, pile tufts, the tips of which are` free of impregnatingmaterial, looped around backing threads, a normally insoluble bindercomposition, confined substantially within the perimeter of the backingthreads and that portion of the tufts which is in the plane of thebacking, said binder material being so diffused in and around theindividual fibres that a fibre lock, as opposed to a thread lock, isobtained andthe interstices 4between the backing threads are not filled.j 7. An impregnated porous single-plane back-` ing V-pile fabric which.consists of interwoven scoured warp and weft backing threads, piletufts.

having their tips free of impregnating material,

looped around a single/ backing thread, a normally insoluble bindercomposition confined substantially within the perimeters of thebakingthreads and that portion of the tufts which is in the plane of thebacking, said binder material being in contact with the majority of theindividual fibresy of both the backing and pile tufts.

8. Animpregnatedfporous single-plane backing V-pile fabric-.whichconsists of interwoven rwarp and weft` backingthreads, pile tufts,having their tips` free of impregnating material, looped around a singlerbacking thread andrhaving the pile bights projecting from the backing',a normally insoluble binder composition containingy rubber confinedsubstantially within the perimeters of the backing threads and thatportion of the tufts which isl in the plane of the backing, said bindermaterial being in Contact With the majority of the individual fibres ofboth theA containing rubber which is thoroughly diiused in and largelyconfined within said threads and locally to and in said pile tufts andthat portion of the tuft which is in the plane of the backing threads soas to provide a discontinuous layer, whereby the interstices between thethreads and tufts are not filled and the porosity as well as the textilefeel is preserved.

GLEN S. HIERS.

